Friday, Aug. 14 at 7 p.m. — RANDOLPH — Peter Sanders, cellist and artistic director, kicks off the 23rd annual residency of his Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival in Randolph the week of Aug. 10. Bringing with him eight colleagues from the New York area, some familiar, some new, he has seven events planned for the two week festival.
The first concert in the series at Chandler Music Hall takes place on Friday, Aug. 14 in the main Gallery, featuring former Kronos Quartet cellist Jeffrey Zeigler, performing works from his newly released solo album, “Something of Life.” The album is one of over a dozen recordings released in the course of his career and features premier recordings of works by Philip Glass, John Zorn and others. The performance begins at 7 p.m. with free admission, goodwill offerings.
There are two 8 p.m. Saturday evening concerts scheduled for the main hall at Chandler. The first one, on Aug. 15, “A Cello-bration!” features a cello quartet performing music of the1500’s through today, including Bach, Pachelbel, Vivaldi, Debussy, Wagner, Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, and many more. Sanders will be joined by Zeigler, Hannah Holman of the New York City Ballet, and Chris Finckel of the Manhattan String Quartet.
The Second Saturday concert at Chandler, on Aug. 22 features viola quintets by Mozart and Brahms, performed by Festival veterans violinists Basia Danilow, Arturo Delmoni, and Adela Peña; violists David Cerutti and Kathryn Lockwood; and cellist Peter Sanders. This program will be performed again on Sunday, Aug. 23 at 4 p.m. at the Woodstock Unitarian Universalist Church on the green in Woodstock. Admission for this concert is by donation.
The now annual Breakfast with Bach takes place on Sunday, Aug. 16, with a new twist. The breakfast will again be served in the Esther Mesh Room of Chandler’s Upper Gallery, catered once again by the Three Bean Café, beginning at 11 a.m. The concert at Bethany Church across the street at 12:30 p.m. features Villa-Lobos’s “Bachianas Brasileiras #1”, performed by eight cellos in collaboration with the Vermont Youth Orchestra, conducted by Jeffrey Domoto. In addition, Sanders also promises a surprise or two. There is a modest fee for the breakfast and admission to the concert is free with a goodwill offering at the door.
On Saturday morning, Aug. 15 at 10:30 a.m. a free cello workshop is offered in coordination with the Vermont Youth Orchestra. This is an informal event for cellists to play and learn about different aspects of cello performance and practice. The exercises will focus on etudes by Dotzauer and Schroder and both beginners and more advanced cellists are encouraged to participate. To reserve a space, contact Jeffrey Domoto: domoto@vyo.org. The workshop is also free and open to the public to observe.
The annual children’s concert takes place on Saturday morning in the main hall on Aug. 22 at 10:30 a.m. Prokofiev’s timeless musical story, “Peter and the Wolf,” will be presented by a piano, string quartet and bass ensemble, narrated by Braintree’s Charlie McMeekin. An exhibit of “Peter and the Wolf” drawings by local children will be on display and a special free ice cream social follows the performance in the Upper Gallery. Tickets for the performance are available at the door.
There are two ways to preview the Festival. There will be an open rehearsal of the Mozart and Brahms quintets on Thursday, Aug. 20 at 7 p.m. The public is welcome to stop by any time and experience music in the making. In addition, VPR opera host Peter Fox Smith will have broadcast highlights on Aug. 8 and VPR Classical host Walter Parker will invite the festival musicians into the Colchester studio on Friday, Aug. 14 at noon for a chat and live performance.
Chandler Center for the Arts is located at 71-73 Main Street, Randolph. Chandler Music Hall is fully accessible and equipped for the hearing impaired. For more info, call the box office at 802-728-6464 or visit www.centralvtchambermusicfest.org.
